Australians have long turned a somewhat blind eye to events overseas when it comes to their cricket team, provided they take care of business at home every summer. If we get to see our heroes tearing apart some poor lambs at the G over Christmas, we can gloss over the fact that they have lost their last 9 consecutive tests in Asia and the fact that they are clueless against spin.

Unfortunately we can’t gloss over the fact that they just might not be very good anymore.

Here are some statistics. In the words of Rafa Benitez: “These are facts.”

Lost five tests in a row for the first time since the mid 1980s (at which point Kim Hughes quit and started crying)

Lost the first two tests of a summer for the first time since 1988

Lost 10 for 86, 10 for 83, and 8 for 32 in the last ten days. (Add in 9 for 52 and 6 for 22 in Sri Lanka.)

And a little anecdote of my own: Lost by 177 runs and AN INNINGS and 80 runs to a side that lost their spearhead on Day 2 of the series (this is akin to Australia losing Mitchell Starc).

The next two tests of the summer are going to be played under lights, against two bowling lineups that are among the best three in the world when the ball swings. We could well be adding to those stats after Adelaide next week…

A whole host of excuses have been trotted out over the course of these matches, the latest being that Faf Du Plessis, the South African captain, ‘applied sugary saliva to the ball to make it swing.’ Good god. Most players chew gum or eat sweets when on the park, be it by habit, or to keep blood sugar levels up. The ICC have said there is no case to answer.

Accept your side were second best in every department. As Neil Manthorp put it, “South Africa out-batted, out-bowled, out-fielded and out-caught Australia.”

So where to now? Well that’s the problem, there is hardly a myriad of options. Players are hardly banging down the door in Sheffield Shield cricket to force their way into the Test team. Voges averages under 15 in his last ten tests, yet was one of the leading runscorers in Sheffield Shield cricket last year.

Below is the squad some believe will be close to the one selected on Sunday for next week’s test. Good luck Lolstralia, you’re going to need it:

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With over 10 years’ experience, Champion Bets has been Australia’s favourite source of betting and ratings packages for over 26,000 members across 19 different packages. Specialising in a variety of sports including Horse Racing, NRL, AFL, Soccer, Cricket and more; there’s a package for anyone.